Next comes the celebrated Joseph Manton with his invention, intended to give a spiral motion to the ball by the cup of wood already described under the head of [rifled cannon]. This very idea has since been revived by General Jacob; and in 1822 Captain Norton introduced to the notice of the Government his “Rifled Shell” for the explosion of an enemy’s tumbrils. This was of necessity an elongated hollow bullet, containing a small charge of gunpowder, which was ignited by the explosion of a cap on a nipple, screwed into the fore-end of the leaden shell.
Here, no doubt, was a partially expansive bullet; for the bullet would be driven in upon itself, and thus expand from the weakness of the hollow shell; this near approach, however, to the invention was not intentional: the sole object in view was the action of the shell, and no more importance was attached to its expansion, in Captain Norton’s estimation, than to the bullet described by Captain Beaufoy in his Scloppetaria. It is only within the last few years that some friend, with more acumen than the gallant officer, discovered his near approach to the subsequent invention, and a claim has been made on his behalf which he himself never dreamt of, during the many years we were battering at the doors of prejudice; closed as they were against military innovation.
In 1826, Capt. Delvigne proposed to use an elongated bullet: “having observed that when a bullet was forced in by the old system of the mallet, its diameter was increased perpendicularly to the axis of the barrel, he came to the conclusion that by giving a chamber to the breech of the rifle, and loading with an elongated bullet having just sufficient windage to enter freely, two or three taps from a steel ramrod would flatten it sufficiently to make it take the form of the grooves, into which it would certainly penetrate when fired.” This contrivance was, however, found to be useless for military purposes; for after a trial, extending over two or three years, by the Garde Royal in Algeria, it was given up in 1830. This, then, is clear proof of an attempt to construct an expansive bullet, and conclusive evidence also of its failure.
From 1830 to 1839, no evidence can be found of any progress having been made by these inventors. In 1836 I had the honour of producing the first perfect expansive bullet. During the winter of 1835 and the spring of 1836, I made an extensive series of experiments in order to overcome the effect of the very extensive windage existing in military muskets at that time; better known in the present day by the name of “Old Brown Bess.”
The mean diameter of the bore was ·760, the diameter of the bullet was ·701, or of the better understood gauge of 11 and 14 bore, thus leaving more than three sizes for windage. To obviate this great discrepancy by expanding a bullet from 14 to 11 bore, so as to destroy the windage, was the first consideration; and, indeed, the first great step towards that change of which we have as yet only seen the beginning. I here give a representation of my first attempt, and the observations made upon it in 1841:—
Five years ago I perfected and laid before the Board of Ordnance a new plan or system of constructing expansive balls, which is accomplished by having two dissimilar portions. An oval ball with a flat end and a perforation extending nearly through, is cast; a taper plug with a head like a round topped button is also cast, of a composition of lead, tin, and zinc, as below.
| EXPANSIVE BALL BEFORE USING. | EXPANSIVE BALL WITH PLUG DRIVEN HOME. |
The end of the plug being slightly inserted into the perforation, the ball is put into the rifle or musket with either end foremost. When the explosion takes place, the plug is driven home into the lead, expanding the outer surface, and thus either filling the grooves of the rifle, or destroying the windage of the musket, as the case may be. The result of this experiment was beyond calculation; and for musketry, where the stupid regulations of the service require 31⁄2 sizes of bore difference for windage, it is most excellent, as remedying this considerable drawback upon the usefulness of the arm; the facility of loading being as great, if not greater, than by the present practice.
Inventions, however, are of no use whilst kept in obscurity, and my first and natural course was to bring it under the notice of the parties for whose benefit it was intended. Accordingly, in July, 1836, a memorial was duly drawn up, and laid before the Master-General and Board of Ordnance, soliciting a trial. After overcoming some difficulties, a trial was ordered at the “cost of the inventor,” and in August, 1836, it took place at Tynemouth, in Northumberland, under the command of Major Walcot, of the Royal Horse Artillery, a party of the 60th Rifles being the firing party. The exact form of the memorial, and the points claimed by the inventor, are as follows:—
“To the Right Honourable the Master-General and Officers of His Majesty’s Board of Ordnance. The humble Memorial of William Greener, Gunmaker, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, humbly sheweth—